We decided today to stay close to home, as I was tired of driving after our trek yesterday. Our destination was the Belfast Castle and Cave Hill Park, which is next to it. The weather forecast for Thursday on looks very bad, so we decided to take advantage of being able to be outside.
The Belfast Castle is not really a castle at all, but rather a large, elaborate 19th-century residence that was given by its prior owner to the City of Belfast in the 1930s. It commands a great view of the Lough and sits on pretty grounds, but is reserved for private functions and doesn’t really have much of interest in it. It shows well, however:
There was a group of school children out on a field trip, sitting in a meadow on the grounds, playing communal games, singing songs, clapping, and sounding very, very happy (perhaps because the end of the school year is imminent). I like this picture, although I don’t really know why (maybe because their enthusiasm was a bit contagious).
After walking around the grounds, we asked for directions to the caves that give Cave Hill Park its name. We were told that they were a 30-minute walk away, and after some discussion we set off. What we weren’t told is that the 30-minute walk was almost constantly uphill (later that evening I went on Google Earth and estimated it was about a 700 foot elevation gain, although it seemed like more). It was a great hike, starting out through lush, damp forests, then transitioning into an area that looked like a scene from “Lost,” and ending on rocky ground.
From the top, there were incredible views. This one looks northward. If you look very closely on the left-hand side of the picture, you can see the monument that stands high on a hill almost directly to the west of our house.
The cave was, well, a cave. It served well as a destination.
After the hike, we went into central Belfast for tea. We are becoming quite fond of tea time. As Andrew said yesterday, it’s nice because you have a little snack so that you aren’t quite so hungry before dinner.
When we arrived in the city, it started to rain, which put the cabosh on our plans. I only managed one picture.
We came home early, and Suzie made us a fine dinner, and we got to bed earlier than normal. If it’s nice tomorrow, we are going back to the coast, and are going to try to find some stone circles.
PS — I realized I missed a day. On Sunday, a day forecast to be scattered showers, we drove to Antrim to a big all-Ireland country fair, which promised dog competitions, shooting competitions, and jousting. Unfortunately, scattered showers turned to a constant, driving rain, which bugged the hell out of us at first, but which became acclimated to over time. There was a large number of exhibits by family enterprises, including a huge tent full of wonderful free food samples. We ended up having a good time in spite of the rain, and afterwards went into Antrim and found the cheapest groceries so far, at a large Tesco. Probably not the best traveling day when the highlight is cheap groceries.
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